|
Een terugblik naar de negentiende eeuw... |
|
Extract from the description of Friedrich Koenig’s first powered presses. Special thanks to Bill Elligett for the translation. What did the first cylinder press look like? At the start of the twentieth century the firm Koenig & Bauer made two models of this first cylinder press in accordance with the original drawings and plans of Friedrich Koenig. One of these is in the company’s museum and the other in the Deutsche Museum in Munich. The wooden manual press, the invention of Gutenberg, produced printed matter during 350 years with but few changes. By the end of the 18th century Friedrich Wilhelm Haas improved this press by making many parts from iron. The Englishman Lord Stanhope went one step further and built an all-iron hand press. The lever mechanism he invented gave the press much more force and made it possible to print the whole form in one movement, whereas with wooden presses it happened in two movements. This innovation did not last long, because a hand press printer had greater concerns, namely to increase the printing speed. This was Friedrich Koenig, the inventor of the cylinder press.
Johann Friedrich Gottlob Koenig was born in Eisleben on the 17th of April 1744, the son of a farmer. He went to school here and later became a typesetting and printing apprentice at the firm Breitkopf and Hartel in Leipzig. For further development he attended lectures at the University at Leipzig. He studied Mathematics and Mechanics with special partiality. After several vain attempts in finding support for his plans in Germany, Austria and Russia he departed for England in 1806. There he found a sponsor, the well funded printer Thomas Bensley in London, who strongly believed in Koenig’s plans and came to an agreement with him. Later on George Woodfall and Richard Taylor joined him. In 1808 the inventor came to know the mechanic Andreas Friedrich Bauer. He was born in Stuttgart on 18 August 1783. He became his friend and companion. After overcoming many obstacles Koenig took his first patent on 29 March 1810 on a press, which was commissioned in April 1811 in Bensley’s printing works. This was in fact a steam driven, self-inking hand-press. Apart from that the principle of the hand press was maintained, but spared the need for a “inkball applier”. The press provided approximately 400 prints per hour. The production of rollers and their drive mechanisms were the major difficulties in building this machine The first form to be printed on this machine, from an article in the Times of 8 December 1814 stated “the sheet (H) of the new Annual Register for 1810, ‘Principal Occurences’, 3000 copies, was printed with it, and is, I have no doubt, the first part of a book ever printed with a machine.”
The success drove Koenig to seek greater speed for the machine. On 30 October, 1811, he took a second patent for a press, which was ready for production by December 1812. Here were applied a complete change in the method of building and in printing principles. No longer two flat planes, platen and form, which provided the print as the hand press, but a cylinder which rolled over the moving form. For the time being this machine satisfied Koenig’s desires, here he could produce 800 prints per hour. The press was divided in two parts, one the drive and movement mechanism, the other carried out the printing process. Description of the feed mechanism.
The following short description explains the most interesting parts of this first cylinder press. Observation of the illustration explains a great deal of the workings of the press. The description is principally directed at the printing process and the ink supply.
The bed carriage was driven by a drive gear enmeshing alternately between an upper and lower gear rack which can be seen clearly on the illustrations. A spring buffer reduced shock during change of direction. (see front and rear view.)
The press cylinder was divided into three printing surfaces. During a complete revolution of the press cylinder, the bed carriage went back and forward three times, the cylinder was stopped three times, and the form printed three times. Between the three printing planes (B1, B2, B3 on fig 1) were three recessed cavities. A cloth was stretched and screwed in position over each printing section, which had the same purpose as the tympan of the hand-press. An overlay sheet was placed over the print cloth. In the middle of each third part is a mark notch e (fig 1), by which the sheet to be printed was placed from above, after which it placed itself under own weight against the cylinder. In the recessed cavities were shafts by which the frisket frames rotated. With the press cylinder turning, frisket frames f, f’ and f” moved. These held sheet in place by means of bands before and during printing. Figures 1 and 2 show the method of movement of the frisket frames. The frisket frames consisted of longitudinal g and transverse h rods forming a frame, by which, in the three recesses of the cylinder the shafts I were about which the frisket frames made their movements (fig 2). Between the longitudinal rods g were two transverse round rods k, k’ (fig 2), of which one is locked to the cylinder, and the other k’ was carried by means of bearings through the transverse rod g. Bands l were fixed to k, ran to k’ and were wrapped around the rolls m. In addition was another roll n on the outside of k’, which through band l’ which was connected by a spiral spring mounted in a tube o (as in clockwork). The bands l and l’ were fixed to their matching rolls, by which these turned in the opposite direction during every revolution of rod k’. Here, a spiral spring had the objective to push the band l’ down and as a result tensioned the bands l between rids k and k’. Perpendicular to longitudinal rods g and on their same axis was the arm q, which sits at the end of roll r, which through band s is in connection with the in the press cylinder fixed spiral spring tube t. The purpose of this mechanism was to open the frisket frames and to keep these in position as long as the cylinder was stationary. Band s (fig 1) were then wound on the roll and the spiral spring forced the roll r together with arm q to the inside wall of the cylinder and in doing so to kept the rods g in the outermost position. In the sequence of the printing process the frisket frames and the bands were placed over the cylinder by doing so to keep the sheet of paper pressed against the cylinder. This happened as follows: Guides C (fig 1) were screwed to the side of the machine against which at the very end of the longitudinal rods fixed guide rolls v ran when the cylinder was started to move. These guides C were formed in such a way that the guide rolls v (and together with these the complete frisket frame) gradually approached the cylinder wall and until point x reached. In the meantime the bands l were uncoiled from the round transverse rod k and placed themselves around the cylinder, so the sheet was pressed against the cylinder. From the moment that the guide rolls v reached point x, the centre I of the frisket frame landed under the pressure of the press, and the longitudinal guides g formed with the bands l an arc over the press cylinder. All the parts of the frisket frame remained in place until the print was finished. This happened through the guides C which over this whole distance ran parallel with the cylinder (x to x ).
Another measure was taken to avoid the danger of mis-feeds. Fine springs were fixed to the bands l , which were connected at the end by a transverse rod qu ( fig 2 ). These springs and the transverse rod fixed the sheet, which was placed on marking point e, still before bands l touched the sheet, because the latter only happened after the cylinder resumed motion and through guides C the frisket frame pressed the sheet against the cylinder. After the bed carriage on the way up reached the dead point, the sheet printed, and the proper printing process was finished, theoretically the sheet could be taken off the cylinder, because there was no reason why the frisket frame should remain closed. But practically there was another hurdle to overcome. Namely the reverse of the sheet could hang down and be smeared with ink on the way back. To avoid this there were on guides C a little arm x which could move on axle y and doing so be held up by a notch on the bed carriage as long as the whole form had passed the sheet. At this moment the inescapable pressure on guide roll v reduced, together with those on the frisket frame. The spiral spring t pulls the arm q back against its rest position against the cylinder wall, hereby the longitudinal rods g were placed in the open position, by which the bands l could resume their straight position between transverse rods k and k’. The printed sheet was now loose on the cylinder. To remove this sheet it had to be carried a bit further although it could slip before one had hold of the sheet. For this two clamps on the cylinder grabbed the sheet, which released when the cylinder reached the rest position, by which the sheet could be manually taken off at the rear and laid out.
Description of Inking.
The distribution of ink happens through two form rollers, which move in conjunction, but alternately ink the form, one on the way up and the other on the return of the bed carriage. Both had a special drive with cogs to turn the form rollers in the opposite direction. Leather rolls were used, because composition had not been invented. A wooden cylinder was covered with flannel or a soft cloth, which absorbed moisture quickly and the leather was placed over this. The wooden roller was closed at the ends, had a hollow shaft with small holes. The same holes were provided with a cylinder mantle. Water vapour was allowed in the hollow shaft from time to time to avoid drying out of the rollers and the cracking of the leather. This moisture went through the holes to the flannel cloth and this kept the leather moist, which therefore remained supple and elastic. The ink transport from distributor rollers to form rollers was not controlled by a ductor with an open ink container as now, but through an upright cylinder or holder, with a small opening in the bottom. Through this the ink dripped on the middle of the rollers, which through a special mechanism was pressed out of the cylinder. Through several intermediate rolls the ink was distributed evenly over the full width of the rollers.
Only a start….
With this the first cylinder press was a fact. Nevertheless Friedrich Koenig did not rest on his laurels. In quick succession followed a new patent, for the well known double cylinder press of the Times which produced 1100 prints per hour. The House Koenig & Bauer became a success. Thanks to the firm Koenig & Bauer. |
|
KOENIGS FIRST CYLINDER PRESS |
|
The first press of Koenig (1803-1804), the Suhler power driven hand press. The next press was similar, but made of cast iron. (Scale 1:2) |
|
Koenig’s first cylinder press, which he patented in 1811. He discontinued work on the platen press and developed a new method of applying impression by cylindrical means. (Scale 1:2) |
|
VOORAANZICHT |
|
ZIJAANZICHT |
|
ACHTERAANZICHT |
